Bal'a - بلعا: Memoir of Salim, a Fellah in 1936 - by Rana Abdulla, Canada

1936 in Balaa, Memoir of Salim, the Fellah

My grandfather wrote about Balaa at the end of the Ottoman Empire, until his death in 1965. My father told me a lot about his father, Salim Hassan Abdulla throughout my childhood. Despite his poverty, he was a sophisticated intellectual and a committed patriot from an early age. He depicted his life and the events of his surroundings through his writings.

My grandfather was an uncommonly handsome man. In the height of his manhood, his descent from the tall Canaanites became evident, and when he spoke, it was with the deep, resonant voice recalling that ancient people. From the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, he exuded a physical grace and inner strength. In a civilized society, he would have been a man one falls in love with at first sight. Freshness, fullness and vitality of spirit, seemed to emanate from him in a palpable aura of energy, an inspiring radiance of the life-principle known to those who came in contact with him.

Being a religious man with a most altruistic spirit, he was also a gifted storyteller. His powerful presence held the entire village audience enthralled, while his repertoire included a mix of timeless myth and local folklore. Yet, my grandfather was not an educated man. For the most part, he taught himself with a love of reading, an innate intelligence, and open-mindedness. Together with his passion for discovery, these gifts made his experience of life and people an inexhaustible source of knowledge. The deep and devout culture of his learning is shown by the great works he recited by memory, the holy book, the Quran, and the stories collected in One Thousand and One Nights and Kalila Wa Dimna.

While my grandfather had minimal education, he was able to read and write. Salim was taught by Fayeq Khondaqji in a one-room schoolhouse, a religious man from Tulkarem. Fayeq taught my grandfather how to read and write, and helped him to memorize the Quran, which would enable him to record his experiences of life in Balaa.

My father knew that my grandfather had kept a written record of the most important events that had befallen Balaa just prior to the start of the British Mandate. This record contained general and detailed information about life in the village and its inhabitants.

When I visited Balaa in 1977 as a young teenager, I immediately ran to see my grandfather’s written record. Seidi Salim recorded the times of joy and sadness shared among family and friends. My grandfather wrote these daily entries to be kept in the family coffers. His upright character, his integrity in word and action, make his record of personal and family experience, and of social life within the village, of dependable and invaluable account.

Of particular interest in my grandfather’s diary is his detailed witness of the 1936 war in Balaa. The legacy of Balaa stands as an accursed memory of the British Mandate, an indelible black stain in our minds and hearts. In 1936, as the British army tried to suppress a Palestinian uprising against Britain’s colonial rule, the army committed some of the most obscene atrocities in the living memory of our people.

The rebellion of 1936-1939 events escalated toward outright armed battle comprise of circumstantial and political resistance. These included strikes, demonstrations, tough political strikes, diplomatic and advertising efforts with the aim of fostering local awareness, local uprisings among the Arabs toward their enemies, and lastly, the boycott of the enemy across all political, economic, and social fields, in the open strike. These measures were undertaken in response to the poor political and economic conditions in Palestine under the British delegation.

Of the measures of public resistance undertaken by the Palestinian people, the most radical was the open strike. The strike was enacted for six months in the cities and villages of Palestine. In Balaa, even the teachers and students declared open strike, crowding with the village people in the middle of the city near the mosque. The preachers spoke their words, explaining the prevailing situation of a landed people struggling under colonialist oppression, which further fanned the civil insurrection. The crowd cheered, welcome, welcome, welcome, to the preachers, knowing that these men were without king or president to shed their blood, while a man called Mohammad Abdul Rahman Shehada lead the crowd and offered them beverages.

The open strike, begun in April 1936, would last until October of the same year. Yet, around this time, and in preparation for the enforced rebellion, men had already started to obtain weapons from regions such as Osmally, Germany, France, England, and Greece. In May of 1936, Iraq prepared an adequate military force. Among them were trained officers and soldiers from the Iraqi army, but also volunteers struggling to earn a living under British rule. Fawzi al-Qawuqji was authorized by leaders of the Palestinian rebellion to prepare a force of volunteers to save Palestine. Al-Qawuqji assumed leadership of the rebellion, which grew in strength as Syrian and Lebanese youths working the Arabian fields heard of the fledgling army and joined the force.

Then the inevitable happened. At Balaa’s curve, or Layyeh, the British authorities arrested a Balaa man Salim Abdul Rahman, for being in possession of a Turkish mortar during harvest season. Balaa people left their tightened donkeys in the bayader and walked nine kilometers to Tulkarem. There, they attacked the police station with sticks and demanded his release. As the villagers gathered, they faced not only the village police forces, but also the British army.

Meanwhile, in Balaa, an auxiliary national committee was formed from the village nobles. The committee began to prepare the village to host the rebels, and designated a house for every group in which there would be stores of coffee and tea and quantities of cigarettes and tobacco for Shisha. To block the way to the village, they excavated a large trench in a summer road off the main street.

Fawazi Al-Qawuqji and Fakhri Abdul Hadi were the leaders. The rebels entered into Balaa before sunset and the two leaders continued on their journey to Montar on their donkeys, flanks ready to be drawn in what would be the Montar battle. The rest, who were Iraqi, Drouz, Syrians and Palestinians were distributed throughout the village, greeted by villagers from their rooftops. The villagers had already prepared dinner for them, knowing they were going to arrive. Among the rebels were Sheaikh Mohammad Al-Ashmar, who was a Syrian struggler and Islamic inviter.

The rebel forces entered the Palestinian lands at the beginning of July 1936 and took over the Al Muthalath “Triangle” region. This area consists of the cities of Nablus, Tulkarm, and Jenin, and it forms part of the West Bank, a highly contested region due to its production of oils, soaps, melons, vegetables, and other goods vital to the economy. With the region under their control, it functioned for the rebels as both beacon and fortified ground. In his capacity as the general leader of the rebellion, Al-Qawuqji formed a rebel circular, encouraging the rebels to enter the region and add further support. In entering the secured area, internal stability was maintained and strengthened during the ongoing struggle, the eventual aim being a free and independent Palestine.

Salim wrote in his diary: “Our house was inherited from my mother, Aisheh Shuhaibar. We lived in the northern neighbourhood were the Mahmoud hamouleh “clan” resided.

My late wife, Hadieh El-Omar, died giving birth to my son, Ibrahim. When he was a young boy, the rebels came to my wife Fatmeh El-Shaikh at night and asked for her step-son Ibrahim to be their guide. Ibrahim was quiet and trustworthy. At night, he walked for two kilometers, enjoying the peace and solitude. The rebels stayed many times in our land, and we made a room for them called mantara. Ibrahim would accompany the soldiers on horseback. “Allah Yeejerhom Allah. “Strengthen their power”, children call them joyously, as they passed by Jamil, my young son, who would be playing Etwain with Naimeh, the daughter of Ibrahim Mustafa Shuhaibar. Shuhaibar’s home offered easy access to the Eastern hara, through which they could pass and find a place to hide.

I took a glimpse of the bright face of my friend Kayed Hammad sitting under the aresheh beside Um-Rmaih’s house. The house that served as the main storage for weapons and a place of hiding for the rebels. This house was the center in which his forces were gathered, being helped by Mohammad Ibrahim Shuhaiber and his wife, known as Um-Rmeih Abu-Shrifeh, called Um-Rmeih because she was so tall and such a fast runner and walker. Um-Rmeih was the midwife of the village and one of the many women who participated in the 1936 rebellion. During this time, there was a strong friendship between Abdul-Rahman, Haj Mohammad, and Mohammad Ibrahim Shuhaiber, since they had worked in the crops, trading and dealing with each other long before the rebellion began.

The house was adjacent to our house. It was later purchased by Tamam Al-Shaikh, my wife’s sister and her husband, Ahmad Dabaseh “Abu-Shafik”. The house was rustic, but romantic, with a stone dome and a single room divided into rawyeh of two levels. The lower rawyeh, a rock cave, served as a stable where horses, cows, and donkeys were kept during the nights. The upper rawyeh was partitioned into a living and sleeping room and a room for food storage. In the upper rawyeh, there were silos of storage for grains, cereals, and dried fruits. Behind the silos was the storage area that took a quarter of the room space.

At night, the mattresses were laid out on the floor. In the morning, the floor was cleared of mattresses, pillows, and duvets. Many family members shared the same duvet, as they were desperately poor, and owning one’s own duvet was beyond the means of a simple fellah family. They worked hard in their fields. They went to bed early and woke early, falling asleep quickly, following their hard day of work. Balaa people ran to donate duvets to serve the sleeping rebels. The house gave easy access to the Eastern part of the village that lead to Watat Jumaa.

One day, my son Hilmi “known as Jamil” and my nephew, Munib, were playing outside Um-Rmaih’s house. They noticed a red handkerchief stuffed in the space between door and roof. The boys took notice, pulling the red handkerchief and a gun came free. They became frightened and put it away, coming back to me, fearful. An hour later, Um-Rmaih came yelling and screaming, cursing the boys, demanding to know if they had removed the red handkerchief. They dared give no utterance to the ominous thoughts clouding their innocent minds, telling Um-Rmaih that they had seen the boys from the Shumaryeh family playing nearby. Wickedly, before they could finish their explanation, she ran carrying her long legs in search of the weapon.

The next morning, people woke to the sounds of guns and mortars bursting throughout the early morning skies and of fighter planes buzzing through the air. The battle lasted throughout the morning and into the noonday heat. It continued on until the night skies fell upon them, causing the rebels to retreat to the north, among the olives and apricot forests, where they camped in a wooded area called Al-Dhohor in Watat Jumaa, in the north of the village. The battle resulted in the deaths of Abdulla Abu-Nozha and Mohammad Omair, both from Balaa, and of three rebels from Syria and Iraq. One died in Khallet Hamad, the other in Karem Abu Hims, and the third in the Snoubar “pine land.” They were temporarily buried in the place of their martyrdom and later were transferred to the martyrs cemetery, in Al-Massafeh land.

Around that time, a British plane was shot down, crashing in Darwish Valley, which was west of the village, and the pilots were arrested. The villagers used the wreckage from the plane to build new roofs for their homes, and to this day, the remnants of the plane can be found on the roof of Haj Ibrahim Al Nassar’s shop.

Also during this battle, a British plane attacked three of the rebel fighter planes, flown by Ahmed Mohammad Soliman Omar from Al-Maskoufa village, Mohammad Hussain Qaadan from Al-Jaroshyieh village and Shaikh Mohammad Abdul Rahman Jaber from Iktaba village. These rebels escaped the crash, but as the enemy plane continued to fire upon them, they scrambled for shelter entering into a cave near Montar, the cave named khallet Al-Sidreh in hopes of hiding from the British plane. Unfortunately, the British plane kept pursuit. Upon discovering their location, the plane sent signals, until British ground soldiers arrived, encircling them in the cave. The British soldiers were then able to find the rebels and seize them. They desperately fought to keep the British soldiers at bay, but the British troops tossed in tear gas bombs, causing the rebels to faint, and resulting in their capture. The British soldiers held them as prisoners of war and they were sent to prison for a long period of time. As a result, one of the pilots sent a message to his wife giving her the opportunity to divorce him or wait for him to be free again. Unfortunately for him she chose to take the divorce.

The next day, in the early morning, a plane flew across the village sky, sending off a round of ammunition. Announcements of an enforced curfew were dropped from overhead, reading: “This is a message for the people, warning them to stay in their homes, violators will be shot”. To demonstrate the sincerity of the warning, shots were fired on two villagers, Arif Abu Younis and Haj Ibrahim Al Khadir, killing them. They had left early in the morning, to work in their fields.

A short time later, large forces from the British army came into the village. They gathered women and children in the mosque and men on the bayader of Al-A’awaj, and began their inspections of the village, house by house. Troops broke into single room hovels and destroyed everything in sight. They broke all the ceramic food containers, and spilled out onto the dirt floor the meager stores of flour, grain, bulgur, lentils and onions, emptying over it the stored animal feed, and pouring over the mix the family’s olive oil. They broke down home doors, mixed sugar with oil, salt with sugar, sugar with lentils, poured oil on the mattresses and the quilts, stole every valuable thing they could find. I can never forget the scene that I saw with my eyes. I saw a British soldier catch two chickens and asphyxiate them by pressing on the chicken’s neck with his army boot, before stuffing them into his bag. The soldiers left leaving only a mess of destruction behind. I carry the scars of that era. I have mostly managed to erase the memory, and when I dig deep in myself to recall these incidents, a shiver runs down my spine.

The more they destroyed, the more the people of Balaa banded together and sought sustenance from the land or through the generosity of a relative, or a neighbor whose house had been spared.

The British soldiers interrogated each man in the village who wore “tarbush caps. They caught a village man who lived in Cyprus wearing the tarbush. He was prowling the battlefield to see the mess the soldiers left?.The planes hanging over the Balaa skies spotted him and sent a signal to the British military leaders that some rebels were wearing tarbushes in Balaa.

The army visit led to the arrest and prosecution of three teachers. As a result, Mohammed Abu Shakra was held in Tulkarm under probation, where he had to report to the Tulkarm police station every day. Ahmed Amawi and Abdul-Latif Kamal were expelled to Sarfand. They were all dismissed of their teaching positions,” my grandfather wrote.

The three teachers and the youths were forced to put wooden plates on their shoulders, which were taken from Sharif Shahrour carpentry shop. Bags of wheat weighing about 100 kilograms each were put on the wooden plates. They were then ordered to walk to Layeh (Balaa curve) under the threat of a rifle. When Mr. Mohammad Abu Shaqra refused to continue walking because of the heaviness of his load, one of the soldiers tried to shoot him, but missed. His brother, Ahmad Abu-Shakra, offered to carry his heavy wheat bags for him, and the British soldiers accepted his offer.

On this day, too, the British forces dynamited six houses in the village. These included the houses of Ibrahim Haj Khader, Hassan Al-Wawi, Haj Abed Wannan, the house of Tawfik Al-Wannan, the house of Abdul Fatah Abu Ma’en and the house of the Abu Younis family. At least a dozen neighboring houses fell like dominos, destroyed by the British retaliation.

As for the rebels who stayed in Balaa, all went to Watat Jumaa, north of the village. Masoudeh Hanhan, the wife of my brother Dawoud, served them daily by cooking and baking and coordinating food transportation. Her role was vital for the rebels. The Watat Jumaa people served the rebels. The leaders were Khalil Hanhan, Abdulla Hanhan, Mohammad Yousif Al-Mostafa, my brother, Dawood Hassan Abdulla, Othman Abu Ghalieh and Hassan Al-Masoud.

Al-Masoud used his house as a food storage warehouse, and with the help of the village people and their relatives, they would gather the food that was arranged and supervised by Masoudeh Hanhan. This included stuffed pigeons, boiled eggs, bakery bread, and kaak. All was transferred in large bags, sugar boxes, coffee packages, tea packets, and cans of food which were carried in boxes from other neighbouring villages, and then collected and stored in Al-Masoud’s house to provide the rebels with provisions. A cook was then put in place to prepare meals for these rebel soldiers.

Al-Qawuqji talked about the Palestinian women in the Balaa battle. The women provided the fighters with food and water, carried the tools, and encouraged them by singing the national songs, using whistles and shouting the champion anthems. When the British forces surrounded the rebellion forces, their strength, support, and enthusiasm helped them to gain victory in the Balaa battle, even though it lasted for over twenty-four hours.

During this time, the men went without water or food, and the army arrested the village’s women and men. The army continued its seizures and prevented anyone from escaping the military zone, but a little girl, who was about ten years of age, did escape, and didn’t care about her father, mother, family or the British armed forces. She, with her little brother, started to carry water to the rebels on donkeys, climbing the mountains and saving them from dying of thirst. The rebel leaders tried to give her money for her kindness, but she refused and said, “I hope I have more than money to provide for you.”

On one particular day, Fakhri Abdel-Hadi called upon a young man whose name was Mahmoud Abul-Habayib. He responded to the order shivering from fright, as he believed he was being summoned to be executed. Fakhri warmly greeted him, presented him with an amount of money, and requested him to tell the attendants his story. So as instructed by Abdel-Hadi, he began telling everyone there about his journey.

“The lands of Balaa are mountainous and rocky, highly unsuitable for the growing of wheat. During the harvest season, the poor people of the village wandered to neighboring villages, to Marj Ibn-Amer near Jenin or to the Sharawiya land, where the fertilized lands yielded splendid crops. There, they worked the harvest and collected spikes that remained after the crops were gathered. I moved looking for bread-winning with Um-Amin, the wife of Mahmoud Hamdan. We headed together towards Jenin with two donkeys. After both of us had collected a sackcloth full of wheat, we carried them on the donkeys and returned to Balaa at night to avoid the heat of the day. But when we arrived in the village of Silat Al-Dhaher, a group of thieves stopped us and confiscated the two donkeys and the wheat sackcloth. As the group of thieves started to leave with what they stole from us and walked further, Um-Amin told me, You are a brave, strong man, Mahmoud, how can you let this happen? She gave me encouragement and supported me. I felt ashamed of myself, and decided to fight for the belongings I had earned with my sweat.

I found myself walking towards the thieves as if I were a giant monster (since I am a very tall man), and as I approached them and Um-Amin followed me with her song, ululating brave man poems, I gathered up the strength and attacked them with my thick cane. I entered with them into a heated battle until they became so frightened that they ran away. I won over the group of men. The thieves ran away scared, and luckily for us, they left the donkeys and the sackcloth behind. Then I returned to Um-Amin, and we safely arrived in Balaa. However the thieves were no more than bandits from the followers of Fakhri Abul Hadi.” Abul-Habayeb told them this bluntly to their face.

The thieves went back to Arrabeh, the village of Fakhri Abul Hadi, who had not yet joined the rebellion. During this time, a leader’s ability and influence were measured by the amount of bandits around him. The bandits went to tell Abdul-Hadi what they had just encountered, an extremely brave man. The bandits returned to him and described Abul-Habayeb as a giant that could not be defeated, a rare type of a man that they couldn’t shoot or kill. Abdul-Hadi initiated an investigation to find out about the identity of this giant man and his bravery. He found out he was from Balaa, but then Abdul-Hadi joined the revolution. Months after their first encounter, shortly after the Montar battle, where he joined the rebellion and came to Balaa, he remembered the incident. Hadi then called upon AbulHabayib, honoring and rewarding him.

After the Montar battle, Al-Qawuqji and his companions returned to Syria, and the leadership was vested to the local leaders, which included Abdul Raheam Al-Haj Mohammad, the general leader who took Balaa as a headquarters because it was so well-fortified.

Other leaders in the revolution presented themselves in Balaa including Rafiq Al-Dahbour, Ahmed Abu-Zitoun and Abdul Rahman Al-Zidan from Deir Ghosoun, Abdulla Asaad Hajeh from Attil, Abu-Osta from Nablus, Ammouri from Irtah village, Abu-Khalifeh from Iktaba village. From Seilet Al Dhaher, there was Mohammad Hamed and Abdulla Taha, the latter marrying a girl from the village, and finally, Hamad Al-Zawati from Zawata.

Since the above rebel leaders were attacking the British daily on Montar, the British decided to establish a fixed military point in Al-Khssass, located along the left periphery of Montar, in order to dampen the rebels’ offensive activity.

After the second Nour Shames Battle, Abdul Rahim Al-Haj Mohammad became the first wanted person. The British declared a reward in the amount of ten thousand Palestinian pounds for anyone who could guide them to his location. Abdul Rahem Al-Haj Mohammad was able to establish his headquarters and leadership centers in three regions, Balaa, Kafr-Labed, and Ramean.

These areas were chosen particularly for their high altitude and the loyal character of the men, who would be able to provide the rebels with provisions and a hiding place, to protect them from the British informers. In Balaa, Abdul Rahem Al-Haj Mohammad stayed with Mohammad Ibrahim Al-Mustafa, whose house was in the highest western area, looking west toward Tulkaram and the main street, and from the north to the Sharawi villages, and from the east, to the Nables Nagareab villages. Mohammad Ibrahim Al-Mustafa’s home consisted of two floors and above them, there was a dome. On the ground floor, there was a connection to the dome and secret basements which stored provisions and ammunition. Um-Rmaih was a big and strong woman, with hands broad and long like swords, and since she was brave like the men, she was able to carry a gun. At one point, when the British forces attacked them, looking for Abdul Rahim Mohammad, Um-Rumaih was able to protect him by covering the dome hole where they were hiding until the British left. On the second floor of the house where the family of Mohammad Al Ibrahim stayed, a large base was set up, where Abdul Rahim Mohammad met his visitors and held the court of appeal. There, decisions were made regarding the next moves of the rebels. There was a special song with which the leader opened.
Abdul-Rahim Haj Mohammad, Al-Ramini, and their personal guards were from Ramin village and they were known to wear a yellow Hatat “head cover”, leash, trousers and shirt. In Kafrr Al-Labad, his chosen headquarters included Naif Ghazala’s house and some caves.

Al-Qawuqji chose as the location for his biggest battle the lands of Montar in the South West of Balaa because of its vital location. From this position, the rebels could maintain a clear view of the main road that connected Tel-Aviv, Yafa and Haifa, as well as the crossing of Tulkarm, Jenin and Nazareth, where the road passed on the side of Layeh, opposite Montar. Cars slowed down on this stretch of road, which would give the rebels an upper hand in knowing who was travelling behind Montar to the northern area. There was protection for the rebel forces, as it was filled with thick olive forests, which they could use to retreat and hide within.

Al Qawuqji placed the main forces of his rebels on the southern tip of Montar hill, opposite Layeh. Then he went on to place smaller forces to the west, on the mountain leading to Noor Shames. To the east, on Anabta and Ramin hills, the rebels blocked the road by Layeh with large stones.

Since the British authorities were continually managing a Jewish convoy between Haifa and Tel-Aviv, and used this road to travel on, they were surprised to find this road was blocked. And when some of the British soldiers went to remove the stones from the road, the main forces of rebels, who had been in Montar, commenced their attack. The British soldiers shouted for assistance, and military backup came from the west. But the rebels on the Nour Shames hills also heard the attack, and they headed to the location. From the east, the rebels on the Anabta and Ramin hills heard the shots and went to join in the fight. The battle continued all day long until sunset, when the rebels decided to retreat to the olive forests in the north.

Fawazi Al-Qawuqji observed the altercation through his military telescope from Illiyet Masoud Abu Jamil in the Marah land, the highest point of observation in Balaa. The results of the battle were as Fawazi Al-Qawuqji had planned, with the enemy suffering a large number of casualties and the rebels incurring few of their own.

Because there was no official authority or law, the people of Balaa began to organize themselves, appointing a national committee to settle any disputes that might occur among the inhabitants.

The first to be appointed was a judge, Sheikh Mohammad Al-Masoud. He was to determine the outcome of any disputes that might arise between the inhabitants and to apply the regulations stipulated by the rebels. The British forces still continued to attack Balaa by surrounding it, inspecting it, and then tormenting the inhabitants.

Some of the villagers finally had had enough and left their houses, moving their families and few belongings to other neighbouring villages. Therefore, most of the children, whose parents originally were from Balaa, were born out of their native country.

The men from Balaa, struggling to earn a living due to the constant battling throughout their country, were not alone, as similar battles were affecting other countries, such as Yafa, in which a community from Balaa was living and working in its prosperous economy. They worked in trades, commerce, or in driving hantours, and meanwhile, volunteered to fight in Yafa against the Jewish and British soldiers. Among those who were Balaa martyrs in Yafa included Salim Ibrahim Salman, who was assassinated by one of the British officers named Madlek. Later my son, Ibrahim, married Salim’s daughter, Hanifeh. In another battle, Fayez Abdulla Mustafa was injured and suffered from his wounds up to his death. The last of the group leaders in Yafa, Najib Abul-Ruz, immigrated to Saudi Arabia after the rebellion had ended, and lived there with his injuries and disabilities.

In one of the most poignant acts of the rebellion, a number of village youth joined together with some other rebels and stole a mortar from the roof of Seilat Al-Dhaber school, where there was a British military camp. The mortar was held in Watat Jumaa until the rebellion ended. The peace ranks which took over Watat Jumaa returned it to the British.

The rebels never stayed in one place for very long, afraid that the British might attack them at any time. One day, Abul-Rahman Haj Mohammad arrived to Sanour, along with his companions. An informer told the British army about this, so they prepared to attack him and his companions. The Jenin governor, Ezedine Al-Shawa, noticed strange army movement in the area of his leadership, so he took his car to Sanour to warn the rebels of the British army’s approach, that they were aware of their location in Sanour. Shawa drove the car to Sanour himself, where the British saw him, arrested him, and removed him from his position as governor.

At Sanour, then, a wild battle took place between the rebels and the British army. In an uneven match of powers, Abdul-Rahim Haj Mohammad was killed, as was his assistant, Abu-Khalifa. Here, there was a problem of transferring the bodies of the martyrs to their respective villages, until a camel rider from Anabta came and volunteered. His name was Hassan Hussein Khader. He took the body of Abdul-Rahim Haj Mohammad to his village Dhinnabeh and the body of Abu-Khalifa to his village, Iktaba. After finding the remains of the dead left from the attack, he noticed that the remains of Abdul Rahim Haj Mohammad were heavier than the remains of Abu Khalifa, so he put a heavy stone in the coffin to balance them out.

After Abdul-Rahim Haj Mohammad’s martyrdom, the leadership was vested to Abu Baker from the Borqa village and the Saif sons, of the same clan as Abdul Rahim Al Haj Mohammad. The British attacked him in northern Kroum, which was the start of his battle with them. This fight took place on the Wassil Kherba lands and was very tough-going. An Egyptian translator who was with the British was killed. A number of murdered soldiers from the British side were laid in rows, and so the exact death toll is not known. The cause of the high number of British casualties was their use of their cavalry army, many of whose horses ran upon the spikes.

After this inevitable battle, some of the leaders began to form peace treaties, most of them having immigrated to Syria.

An important phase of the Palestinian rebellion had ended, and most of the rebels returned to their homes in the holy capital, Jerusalem.

The battle was over. I ran and hugged my mother. Her hair was white and harsh lines crossed her face, tugging at her eyes and lips. She said no words, but tears were coming down. They are gone, yamma. Mother’s words froze inside her, her body trembled ? she had lost weight and seemed to age 10 years.

I then ran to the barn to see Sabha, my horse. She was the same. I clicked my tongue and pressed my body on Sabha’s sides softly. Sabha ran in full speed, in joy. Sabha and I traversed the land, letting all sadness and worries go. Sabha, joyful as could be, running like a plane, from side to side with boundless energy.

Days and then weeks passed in our flowery landscape of bliss. The people, the places, even the dress. A stranger lends himself to their impression, feeling as though he were walking in a vision of the past, and that by some stroke of the magician’s wand which had created it, all should suddenly dissolve into impalpable air.

The rebel forces, under the leadership of Al-Qawuqji, participated in many battles with the British, who suffered a great number of losses. When the truce was declared between the British and the Palestinians, a stop to the siege was implemented upon political decision by the high Arab committee, after the Arab kings persuaded Al-Qawuqji to pull back his forces from Palestine.”
Rana Abdulla - Canada